Our Homeschool Days — Powering Up Imaginative Play

This post was sponsored by Duracell as part of an Influencer Activation for Influence Central.

There are so many reasons we decided to homeschool this year. More than I’ll probably ever be able to put into words or fully understand. Dominic and I both knew in our hearts that it was best and day by day we’re finding that this adventure of learning at home is good. So very good for us as parents and the same for our children.

One of the HUGE perks of schooling at home is that I control our time and activities. For a Type-A mama this is pure gold! Sometimes it’s overwhelming too, having so many exciting options and only so many hours in the day, but that’s besides the point :) Bottom line, I determine how long we spend on seat work, how long we play outside, what hands-on activities we do, how and when we learn through technology, and what options we have to grow our imaginations and explore new subjects. 

I’m always on the look out for new toys that will catch my kiddo’s eyes and encourage imaginative play. I use them as a break from our classic schooling. It’s partially a trick on the kids, I’ll say, “Here, pause school and play with this toy!” They think schoolwork is over when really I’m just helping their minds change gears and learn in a new way! 

Last week we had the opportunity to learn with CHiP. 

Jemma wants a dog something fierce so when I debuted CHiP, a robot puppy from WoWee, she was smitten! Together we powered up CHiP with Duracell batteries and she scrambled to read his manual. In no time at all CHiP was sitting, playing fetch with his ball, and dancing. Yes, this cute little dog has quite the moves!

CHiP uses advanced sensors like voice Bluetooth and voice recognition to come when you call and obey commands. Over time, CHiP learns and adapts becoming uniquely yours … a one of a kind dog, just like a real one, but without the messes! We’re only a week into loving on CHiP, but he (and we!) has already learned so much! 

CHiP has amply filled our fun learning time lately, but this week I’m introducing another Duracell-powered activity — COJI. COJI is a robot that teaches coding and the basics of programming! Is Kindergarten too young for such a lesson, I think not! Not in this tech driven world!

COJI teaches through something Jemma already loves and adores, emojis! Through skill-testing games COJI helps grow critical thinking through scaffolding learning strategies and that applies to every bit of her homeschooling success. Learning is all about balance and I think COJI and his coding fun offers a great perspective into a field I honestly know nothing about. No doubt I’ll be learning alongside the kids!

You can find CHiP, COJI, and Duracell batteries at Toys R Us. Why specifically Duracell batteries you ask? Well, because Dominic will literally throw away any other brand of battery! He says nothing is as good as Duracell!

If you’re excited about powering up your kid’s imaginations add CHiP and COJI to your homeschool curriculum (seriously, these guys are the best way to mix up the day!) or gift wish lists for the upcoming holidays — you and your family will love them both!